Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 7

Doyle – Up for Preorder

A Kit Colbana World Short Story

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Smashwords

A Kit Colbana World Short Story

This is a short story. It is only a short story.

Doyle. Human. Tiger. Aneiri. Alone.

Always on the outside, even in a clan. Now, as his dominance grows and threatens to spill out in a wave of violence, he might have to choose between staying with the only family he’s ever known, striking out to lead a solitary life or spill blood of those loyal to the clan…and the few he calls family.

follows the events of Haunted Blade and Haunted Magic

Excerpt

Scott Pritchard, on the other hand, was six feet and built like a battering ram, nothing but thick muscle layered over a solidly built frame. Now he was using that bulk to intimidate her.

Asshole. Fucking asshole.

“Where the fuck is he?” Scott demanded.

“He didn’t tell me and other than that, everything we’ve discussed falls under Healer privilege,” she said with a cool smile.

“Including fucking him?”

Char’s cheeks flushed and her eyes flashed to gold but it wasn’t humiliation or embarrassment. Rage flashed across her face and she shoved Scott back, hard enough that he stumbled a half step in surprise.

But when she went to do it again, he caught her wrist.

Fury twisted my gut into knots and I rose to a crouch.

As I hit the glass, Char’s yelp of pain hit my ears and splintered through me like napalm. Landing in a crouch, I took Scott’s legs out from under him.

“Okay, you big asshole,” I said, rising to stare down at him. “You wanted me? You found me.”

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Dragons don’t fall in love – New Release!

At least that’s what Sorin was told. But he learned the hard way that wasn’t the case.

Now availableA Dragon’s Desire

The Pretern Wars, a Prequel

SORIN: He is Zmeu, one of the great dragons of myth.

As a young dragon, he was told an important truth: Dragons do not fall in love. They definitely do not fall in love with mortal women.

It’s a lesson Sorin takes to heart. He might have had a mortal mother, but mortals had also killed her, leaving him alone.

A dragon grown, he dwells in an impenetrable castle, living a dragon’s best life. He dances with fae swan maidens, steals baubles from unknowing kings, scoffs at mortals stumbling through life wasting time on war, hate…love.

Then love finds him.

In the village of his birth, a woman teaches him a truth his dragon family hadn’t—it’s rather easy for a dragon to find love.

Ever seeking solace, ever seeking home

Easy to love, yes. But understanding the woman who steals his heart? Not so easy. He doesn’t realize it at the time, his arrogance leading him to assume he knew best. After all, he was a dragon. Sorin’s arrogance led to her death…and a curse.

Hundreds of years later, living in the New World as the world prepares for war, he is almost numb to the curse that haunts him still.

You will wander, you will roam, they’d said. He did. But seeking solace, seeking home? Home and solace were lost to him, every bit as much as his love.

As penance, he guards the mortals in his territory, as she had protected those under her care. He’ll hold off the coming war as long as possible. When the time comes to take up a sword—or breathe fire—he will. It’s little comfort, but his lost love would expect him to protect. So he does.

One night, a sudden awareness yanks him from deepest sleep. Chasing the faint magical trail, he finds a woman battling for her life. Just before a killing strike, he sees her eyes…eyes of haunting green.

The eyes of the woman he’d loved, the eyes of the woman he’d killed.

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Excerpt

“This isn’t how it should happen, witchling. I’ve plans to woo you, court you, because this isn’t going to be a one-time thing. You and I, we belong together. Think it madness if you must, but it’s the truth.”

“Oh, dragon.” In a move that displayed a sly strength and grace, she freed herself. Then she pushed onto her toes and curled her arms around his neck, smiling into his eyes. “The first time I saw you on that mountaintop, it hit me. Here.”

She reached down and took his hand, guiding it to her chest and pressing it to her sternum until he could feel the hard, driving rhythm of her heart.

“I know your eyes,” she whispered. “I don’t understand it. I can’t explain it.”

He sucked in a breath, struck to the core of his being. “Witchling…”

She inclined her head, studying him.

Whatever she saw, it made her smile, although it was bittersweet and sad.

“Whatever it is you think I don’t understand…you’re wrong. I may not know all of it, but we’re connected. I feel it.” She pushed a hand through his hair, cradled his scalp. “But we’ve time for it later, yes?”

He freed his hand from hers, reached up to palm her cheek. “You may hate me when you learn the truth, witchling. This is…not our first encounter, Gia.”

Her eyes clouded over and a sigh shuddered out of her. “I already knew that. But those secrets are still hidden from me and that tells me I’m not ready to know them. But one thing I do know—I thought I knew what it was to live, to know pleasure, even passion. Then you kissed me, brash, arrogant bastard you are and after that, everything I’d known before was nothing. My life started the moment I saw you. Now…stop denying me. Stop denying us both.”

Buy now

Add on Goodreads
Buy the Book:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Play | Smashwords

The post Dragons don’t fall in love – New Release! appeared first on SHILOH WALKER.

Coming next week…there be dragons

Look at me. Let me see you one last time.

A Dragon’s Desire, Releasing 7.2022

Hot hands closed around her wrists. Strong hands. A man’s hands.

The dragon’s hands, she reminded herself. Even if he was wearing that admittedly gorgeous male body, he was still a fricking dragon.

He tugged and she was so caught up in her emotional storm, she didn’t even try to resist. A moment later, she found herself gazing into eyes a rich, vibrant shade of gold—an impossible shade of gold—a familiar shade of gold.

“Your eyes,” he said, his deep voice a raw, rasping growl.

She blinked, uncertain about what he meant, or what her eyes had to do with anything, especially when compared to his eyes—those rich, glowing golden eyes that burned with an inner fire.

Why was that golden gaze so familiar?

He shoved his hands into her hair, his intensity now a raw, demanding thing that wouldn’t be denied.

“What is it about you?” he demanded in a rough murmur, staring at her as he bent closer, his eyes staring at her raptly, fascinated, as if he’d found something special that he’d lost. “And your eyes…”

No, not just special. Something vital.

But why he seemed so enraptured by her eyes, she didn’t know. And she couldn’t even ask him, either, because a heartbeat later, his mouth was on hers, one hand still tangled in the wet skeins of her hair, while he slid his other arm around her and held on tight, his overheated—naked—body a brand against hers.

Gia gasped against his lips, her mouth opening, first in shock, then in dazed, desperate hunger as he licked at her lips, then stroked into her mouth, the taste of him smoky and wild, every wicked temptation she’d ever dreamed of.

Reaching up, she caught hold of his biceps, her mind spinning and her heart racing.

Deep inside, in the very core of her, she heard a whisper—Look at me. Let me see you one last time.

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Being the strong one

I think most families have a ‘strong’ one.

That port in the storm. The one who gets called when there’s a crisis or a medical emergency.

Hey, BONUS POINTS if the strong one is a person with medical background or an understanding of mental health problems.

We get to weather all the storms, right?

But what happens when we are tired? When we are on the edge of a crisis? Does anyone even notice?

I don’t think they do.

What if the strong one is just too worn out & broken?

You know what happens?

Nothing.

We aren’t allowed to break or feel weak.

Even if we hate being the strong one & we tell people that, they don’t get it.

Strong is good, right?

But we’re still human.

We screw up.

We hurt.

We feel.

But we don’t have many resources because our ‘support’ system thinks we’re just ‘strong’.

When we fuck up, we’re failures.

When we just need a break, we don’t get it.

You know what? Being the strong one sucks.

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If you want in on the Doyle short…

Time’s a wasting. Paid post goes out tomorrow, so sign up on my Patreon today!

Support tiers start at $1! Check it out at Patreon.

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A Doyle short story? Yes, please.

So, if you’re familiar with Patreon. I use the platform there to help fund my Kit Colbana series. Patrons get early access to the stories and those who choose higher tiers get extra perks.

Some stories, like the next full length Kit book, coming hopefully by late summer, go up for sale shortly after released to my Patreon readers. Others are Patreon-exclusive for a while longer.

I had an idea for a short story for Doyle that ties into events that currently going on in the book I’m writing for Kit and patrons who are current with the platform by the end of the week will have access to the story when I finish, which should be in the next couple of weeks. Support tiers start at just $1, so if you’d like to read it when I finish, head over and join my Patreon now!

SHORT EXCERPT

“How inevitable, Doyle?”

Cracking my neck, I looked away.

She shoved me lightly. “Answer me!”

I caught her hands, held them trapped against my chest. The fear in her voice broke my heart. I pushed the knowledge aside, because thinking about it meant thinking about what she’d come to mean to me and that was dangerous—for both of us, and unfair to her if everything ended happening the way it probably would later on down the road.

“How inevitable?” she said again and this time, she was the one with the growl in her voice.

“From what I’ve been told, within the next decade, there will only be two cats in the Clan with more dominance than me,” I told her.

Her eyes widened and for a second, she swayed. “Hey…” Grabbing her hips, I steadied her. “Breathe. Now.”

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Delay the Dragons

I’m going to have to delay the release of A Dragon’s Desire. Not by much-it will still be out this summer, but I don’t want to rush it.

In the meantime, here’s a tiny snippet.

Excerpt

Swaying forward, she pressed her lips to his.

The heat of him was shocking, a brand to her senses.

She gasped, falling back, one hand braced against the earthen floor beneath her, her eyes widening as the light contact reverberated through her. It was like…

She couldn’t explain it—coming home.

Tears rushed to her eyes, an overwhelming ache deep inside her suddenly making itself known. That ache consumed her—but it wasn’t pain, precisely, because the ache was only there to tell her that she wasn’t alone. That she was no longer broken, but whole.

You…it’s you. I’ve found you.

Soren reached up to cup her face, his brows coming together. “Witchling…” He stroked a thumb over her lower lip, the other feathering over her brow. “You’re sad.”

“No,” she whispered, the words forced out through a throat thick with emotion. She couldn’t explain how she felt—she wasn’t sad, was she?

The post Delay the Dragons appeared first on SHILOH WALKER.

Kit is finally talking!

So, Kit Colbana #7 is FINALLY moving along.

FYI, if you want to be the first to read her next, and final, book, make sure you become a Patron over at my Patreon! There’s a longer excerpt over there for Patrons only and Patrons get a free copy of the book as soon as it’s finished. Plus, depending on the teir you choose, you can have your name added to the dedications or other perks!

I don’t yet have release information on the book. Kit’s story is harder than write, partly because her stories are darker, so I have to go into a darker headspace. Some of you who’ve been following me for a while are aware I’ve had a lot of hard life shit thrown my way over the past few years, starting with the loss with my brother in 2017 to suicide, then losing several other family members, close friends and finally my father in law last COVID. It’s affected my depression on a drastic level, which means I have to avoid trying to work on Kit’s story and other darker stories for my own mental health.

Life is finally smoothing out–some–and Kit is talking again, so her story is coming more steadily. More details to be posted as I have them, and I hope to have this book out this year!

Excerpt

“Decided to have a tantrum, huh?” He gave me an arrogant smile. “Going to pick up something else to throw? Great way to handle this, Kit.”

“You are the reason that mess happened today—the reason a child got terrified—the reason I got burned almost to the fucking bone, Damon!” It hurt to just force those words out through my tight throat. I was so furious I could barely breathe. And under the fury, there was hurt. For a second, I felt the prick of tears and the thought that I might actually cry left me paralyzed.

Damon saw something in my expression and he sucked in a breath, swore quietly.

But when he started toward me again, I backed up.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No.”

This time, he listened.

“Blue was there, following his fucking Alpha’s orders. He makes a great little soldier, Damon, but he’s not too great at thinking on his own.” I was cold now, so cold I had chills and I had to fight the urge to cross my arms over myself and huddle in for warmth. “Whatever reasons you have for putting your toy soldiers on my ass, you were the reason I ended up with second-degree burns all the way from my right hip down to my right knee. If I had been just a little more human, I’d have died from shock alone—even Colleen being right there wouldn’t have been able to save me.”

Damon’s jaw went tight.

“Tell me why I’m being followed!”

The post Kit is finally talking! appeared first on SHILOH WALKER.

New book – A Dragon Shifter!

First… before I forget… I’ve started a page on Ko-Fi.com. I’ve got several of my older Ellora’s Cave titles listed there for sale that aren’t available anywhere else, like the Fated trilogy. I also collected all the Christmas stories into an anthology, Ho Ho Hot Holidays.

Some of my books are monthly deals at Kindle.

A Prime’s Passion http://bit.ly/SW_APP

Never As It Seems http://bit.ly/SW_NAIS

The Virgin http://bit.ly/SW_TV

Haunted Magic (opens at JC Daniels site) https://bit.ly/JC-Haunted

Annnndddd… another round, the books all part of my FBI Psychics series

The Doubted http://bit.ly/FBI_Bk7

The Innocent http://bit.ly/FBI_book6

The Unwanted http://bit.ly/FBI_bk5

Talking with the Dead https://bit.ly/32vBhh6

If you’ve missed any of these titles, now is a great time to get them!

Coming in February

You will wander, you will roam

SORIN: He is Zmeu, one of the great dragons of myth. 

As a young dragon, he was told an important truth: Dragons do not fall in love. They definitely did not fall in love with mortal women. 

It’s a lesson Sorin takes to heart. He might have had a mortal mother, but mortals had also killed her, leaving him alone. 

A dragon grown, he dwells in an impenetrable castle, living a dragon’s best life. He dances with fae swan maidens, steals baubles from unknowing kings, scoffs at mortals stumbling through life wasting time on war, hate…love.

Then love finds him.

In the village of his birth, a woman teaches him a truth his dragon family hadn’t—it’s rather easy for a dragon to love.

Ever seeking solace, ever seeking home

Easy to love, yes. But understanding her? Not so easy. Sorin’s arrogance led to her death…and a curse. 

Hundreds of years later, living in the New World as the world prepare for war, he is almost numb to the curse that haunts him still. 

You will wander, you will roam, they’d said. He did. But seeking solace, seeking home? Home and solace were lost to him, every bit as much as his love. 

As penance, he guards the mortals in his territory, as she had protected those under her care. He’ll hold off the coming war as long as possible. When the time comes to take up a sword—or breathe fire—he will. It’s little comfort, but his lost love would expect him to protect. So he does.

One night, a sudden awareness yanks him from deepest sleep. Chasing the faint magical trail, he finds a woman battling for her life. Just before a killing strike, he sees her eyes…eyes of haunting green. 

The eyes of the woman he’d loved, the eyes of the woman he’d killed.

Add on Goodreads
Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Play | Smashwords

The post New book – A Dragon Shifter! appeared first on SHILOH WALKER.

December Sales & Stuff

This is gonna be super quick cuz I’m supposed to be writing and do my newsletter and writing on a freelance project, too.

Oi.

I’ve got a few titles on sale.

SALE!

Links

A Prime’s Passion http://bit.ly/SW_APP

Never As It Seems http://bit.ly/SW_NAIS

The Virgin http://bit.ly/SW_TV

Haunted Magic (opens at JC Daniels site) https://bit.ly/JC-Haunted

Also, if you missed the chance to buy books from my Ellora’s Cave publisher, I’ve recently released a couple that were still out of print, like the Fated trilogy.

I also collected all the Christmas stories into an anthology, Ho Ho Hot Holidays.

The post December Sales & Stuff appeared first on SHILOH WALKER.